Advice i may give to someone undergoing their first colonoscopy.

Relax: Remind them of the benefit of the procedure and that they will get sedation for the procedure. Warn them about the prep the day before. And remind them to bring their sense of humor.

It's safe: The two main risk factors: 1. Perforation 1 in 3, 000-5, 000 scope nationally 2. Missed lesions: no one truly knows, and depends on lesion size but sensitivity is really only about 85% (maybe less) - 15 out of every 100 scopes will miss a lesion. The only painful part is the bowel prep.